


Sweet for my sweet

by NYWCgirl



Series: Tsalani bwino = Stay well [2]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Procedures, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-23 00:50:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4856882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter leaves a small wound untreated while they are on a mission in Africa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet for my sweet

**Author's Note:**

> This story fills my ´infected wounds´ square on my h/c bingo card

Peter woke up hot and sweaty. He felt terrible. He sat up on his bunk under the mosquito net and was worried. After Neal´s Malaria episode, Peter had to admit that he was more alert. He had been spraying his cloths and mosquito net with DEET, so he should be covered on the mosquito treat.

He got up but when he tried to put weight on his leg, pain shot through his leg. He limped to the facilities and took a quick shower under the water bag that was hanging from one of the trees. The lukewarm water made Peter feel a bit better.

Peter had accompanied Neal again on one of his in-land trips to look for the mutated virus. He had done so on several trips and Neal considered Peter as his own private bodyguard in Africa. Whenever he needed to make a trip, the first one he called was Peter.

Peter dried himself off, but could feel the heat radiating from his body. He needed to find Neal and tell him how he felt. So he limped back to the hospital tent where he guessed Neal was working as he didn´t see him walking around in the camp.

He was glad when he finally arrived at the tent. Neal was working on something, because he was bent over some microscope and muttering in himself.

“Neal?”

“Good morning Peter.” Neal answered without looking up.

Peter hesitated. Maybe he should let Neal finish his work.

When Peter didn´t say anything, Neal looked up.

“Is there something you need from me?”

“Yeah, but it can wait, when you finish, come see me.” Peter answered.

When Neal bent over his notes again, Peter got up and limped away. He didn´t have any duties at the moment, so he went back to his tent and lay down on his bunk. Within minutes he dozed off.

 

* * *

 

Neal noticed his stomach growling. He glanced at his watch and saw it was already half past one. He had missed lunch, again, that is why he was hungry. He got up, stretching his strained muscles. He wasn´t getting any younger.

He walked up to the tent with all their supplies. The rest of the staff was already doing other things, so he entered the tent to see if they left him something. There was rice and chicken, so he dumped some on a plate and took a bottle of water out of the cart board box containing their water supply. He then strolled back out and sat down in the shade on a bench that someone had placed under a three. While he was eating his food, he thought about Peter, he had interrupted Neal in his work which was something Peter didn´t do easily. So he decided to go find Peter and ask him what he needed.

He placed his plate and cutlery in the washing up tub, and went to look for Peter. He checked the cars, the facilities, he asked a couple of people, but nobody had seen Peter. That was strange. So in the end he walked into the sleeping quarters.

Peter was sleeping on his bunk bed, which was odd in itself. Neal had never known Peter to sleep during daytime. He called out to Peter while walking over to him. When he lifted the mosquito net, he could see Peter´s flushed cheeks and the film of sweat on his exposed body parts. Neal felt his forehead and he could feel the heat radiating from him. Peter had a fever.

“Peter?” He shook Peter.

Peter sluggishly opened his eyes.

“What´s the matter?”

“You have a fever. Why didn´t you tell me?”

“I thought it could wait.”

Neal rolled his eyes. Typically Peter. Putting everything and everybody before his own health.

“Did you take your malaria pills?”

“Yes. But I scratched my leg two days ago, while we were visiting the village.”

“Which leg?”

“Left.”

Neal lifted the pant leg and held his breath. Red streaks were already extending from the affected area. The cut itself was rather small and it had already closed up. But it was clear there was an abscess building underneath the skin.

“You should have said something. I guess you didn´t disinfect the wound, did you?”

“No, I didn´t really even notice until I washed up for the night. The bleeding had stopped and it had closed by itself. Yesterday, there was some redness, but I thought it was part of the healing process as the wound was already closed.”

“Yeah, well, it closed alright, but underneath the bacteria are growing at an alarming speed and your body´s defense mechanism isn´t coping, that is why you are running a fever. It tries to overheat the bacteria, but it isn´t working, so I am going to open up the wound, drain any pus, disinfect it and give you some antibiotics.”

Peter just nodded. He was OK with anything as long as it would make him feel better. He felt like a wet dish rag.

“Can you stand?”

“I guess.” Peter tried to get up, but couldn´t put any weight on his leg, so Neal placed his shoulder under Peter´s arm and supported him.

They slowly made their way into Neal´s research tent as Neal kept all his medical supplies there. He lowered Peter on the gurney and started getting everything he needed.

“Peter, I want you to relax, I will numb your leg, so you won´t be feeling anything.” Neal said while he pulled on some surgical gloves.

Neal could see Peter did his best to relax. He closed his eyes and the fever was already pulling on him, Neal noticed that Peter was drifting, not completely aware of his surroundings, he quickly injected some pain medication, but Peter didn´t really reacted, so he started explaining Peter what he was doing. He could see that his babbling relaxed Peter.

Neal took a clean needle and pricked it in the wound, when Peter didn´t respond at all, he knew the painkillers worked, so he took a scalpel and opened the wound up. Immediately pus started flowing. Neal drained the wound as best as he could. Disinfected it and quickly closed it with five stitches. He dressed the wound and injected antibiotics. He opened a fresh bottle of water and dissolved some Orisel in it, the sugar, minerals and salts in it would help Peter´s body. When he was finished, he shook Peter.

“Peter, I am ready.”

Peter looked blearily up at Neal. Neal placed an arm under Peter´s head and lifted him a bit while he held an open bottle of water at his lips.

“Come on, drink, otherwise I need to start an IV.”

Peter drank slowly until the bottle was empty, grimacing against the bitter taste. Neal placed Peter´s head back on the pillow and told him to rest. He would wake him for dinner.

 

* * *

 

When he woke Peter later that afternoon, It was getting dark, within fifteen minutes it would be completely dark. Nurse Joy had made dinner, some local spicy dish, so Neal had asked her to make some sauce without the peppers for Peter. Neal asked Peter if he wanted to come out and have dinner or if he wanted to be fed in bed.

Peter answered that he wasn´t hungry. But that was not the answer Neal wanted to hear, so Neal got them some food and started feeding Peter the rice with sauce, when Peter didn´t give any indication he was going to feed himself. Afterwards, he gave Peter some more Orisel laced water. When he was done Neal took Peter back to the sleeping tents and helped him into bed.

Neal left him to finish up his work. When he was done, he walked back to the tent, Peter was sleeping; so he turned on his head light and started reading a book.

He was distracted by Peter mumbling. He looked at Peter and could see he was sleeping very restless and was shivering.

“Peter? Are you awake?”

Peter started awake. Neal didn´t like the feverish look Peter gave him. He took a thermometer and checked Peter´s temperature, 102, not what he had expected. Neal undressed the wound and checked it, it looked worse, the antibiotics hadn´t done what they needed to do. He needed to take more drastic actions, before the infection went out of control. He quickly walked back to the other tent and got some supplies. He took a vial with stronger antibiotics and injected them.

“Peter?”

“Hmm?”

“I need you to listen to me. The wound isn´t responding to my treatment as I expected. I want to try something.”

“Don´t take my leg off.” Peter rambled.

Neal huffed out a laugh, of course not, suddenly realizing that Peter was serious.

“No, of course not. I want to treat the wound with some Surgihoney.”

Peter didn´t appear to be hearing what Neal told him when he answered.

“I don´t feel so great. Can I sleep?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Neal quickly walked back to the tent and rummaged through his medical supplies until he found a box labeled Surgihoney. It was a treatment they were experimenting with in the UK and a befriended doctor had given a box to Neal to try it in the field.

Neal took the box back to Peter. He opened the box and found several sachets; he took the gauze from the wound, opened one of the sachets and squeezed the honey onto the wound. He then dressed it again.

He took a cloth and wetted it down and refreshed Peter´s face and neck. He mumbled some reassuring words until he saw that Peter had fallen asleep again. Neal sighed; he was exhausted, so he quickly refreshed himself and lay down himself. He woke several times during the night, but every time he checked on Peter, he was doing OK and sleeping.

The next morning, Neal woke and immediately jumped up to check on Peter. He hadn´t stirred and Neal was a bit worried, but the fever was less. Peter startled awake when he felt Neal´s hands on him.

Neal quickly reassured him that everything was OK. Peter gave a small smile.

“Sorry, old habits.”

“No problem, I want to check the wound.”

“Go ahead.”

Neal took off the dressing and it looked better, so he took another sachet and poured the honey on it and replaced the bandages with fresh ones It would need a couple of more days to heal completely, but the redness was fading and so was the swelling.

“What´s that?”

“Honey.” Neal said.

“Honey?”

“Yep, honey, I know it sounds odd, but it seems to do the trick. Well, I have to admit, it is not just honey, it is some sort of super honey, but it is said to work on hard to treat infected wounds. It kills the bugs but it doesn´t damage the tissue, so I guess, you were my first guinea pig.”

“Always glad to be of assistance of the medical profession.” Peter said dryly and Neal started laughing.

“I will help you up now, don´t put any weight on the leg. Let´s get you cleaned up and get some nourishment into you. I need my bodyguard healthy. And next time, please tell me about wounds, even if you think they are insignificant.”

“I promise. I always imagined having body parts covered with honey would be in a totally different setting. ”

Neal started laughing and covered his ears.

“Too much information, my friend.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Surgihoney really exists; please find an article on it here: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/jan/01/surgihoney-treatment-infected-wounds


End file.
